عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

UK Foreign Secretary Lammy Calls Engagement with China 'Pragmatic and Necessary'

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (L) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shake hands before their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on October 18, 2024. (AFP)
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (L) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shake hands before their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on October 18, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

UK Foreign Secretary Lammy Calls Engagement with China 'Pragmatic and Necessary'

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (L) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shake hands before their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on October 18, 2024. (AFP)
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (L) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shake hands before their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on October 18, 2024. (AFP)

Britain's foreign secretary has called engagement with China “pragmatic and necessary” as he makes his first visit by a Cabinet minister since the Labor government took control in July.

David Lammy met Friday with Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang and held talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi later the same day.

Wang said China and the UK should boost economic cooperation and find areas of consensus in global politics, despite areas of deep disagreement.

“China is willing to work with all countries, including the UK, to seek peace for the world and pursue development for mankind,” Wang was quoted as saying.

Lammy's two-day trip is an attempt to reset ties with Beijing after relations turned frosty in recent years over spying allegations, China’s support for Russia in the Ukraine war and a crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong, a former British colony that is now a part of China.

The Foreign Office said he would also hold talks with British businesses in Shanghai to discuss “how our economic links with China support growth in the UK”.

Speaking before travelling to the country, Mr. Lammy said it was important to speak “candidly” about “both areas of contention as well as areas for cooperation in the UK’s national interest”.

“From stopping Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, to supporting a global green transition, we must speak often and candidly across both areas of contention as well as areas for cooperation in the UK’s national interest,” Lammy was quoted as saying in a Foreign Office news release.

He is also expected to urge China to stop its political and economic support of the Russian war effort.

The US sanctioned two Chinese companies on Thursday for allegedly helping Russia build long-range attack drones used in the war in Ukraine. The Chinese Embassy in Washington said the allegations were false.

The last British foreign secretary to visit China was James Cleverly in 2023, when he underlined the importance of maintaining regular dialogue with Beijing despite differences.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

US Laments 'Disappointing' Swiss Decision Not to Fully Adopt Latest EU Sanctions against Russia

FILE - US Ambassador to Switzerland Scott Miller gives a statement during the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano, Switzerland, on July 5, 2022. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP, File)
FILE - US Ambassador to Switzerland Scott Miller gives a statement during the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano, Switzerland, on July 5, 2022. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP, File)
TT
TT

US Laments 'Disappointing' Swiss Decision Not to Fully Adopt Latest EU Sanctions against Russia

FILE - US Ambassador to Switzerland Scott Miller gives a statement during the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano, Switzerland, on July 5, 2022. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP, File)
FILE - US Ambassador to Switzerland Scott Miller gives a statement during the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano, Switzerland, on July 5, 2022. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP, File)

The United States is expressing disappointment over a decision by the Swiss government not to adopt all measures in the latest round of European Union sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine.
Amb. Scott Miller, the top US envoy in the Swiss capital, expressed hope that Bern will work to close a “loophole” that allows overseas subsidiaries to get around sanctions, which aim to punish the Russian government over President Vladimir Putin's all-out war in Ukraine launched in February 2022, The Associated Press reported.
“It is essential we target sanctions circumvention to dent Russia the finances and materiel it needs to continue its brutal war. None of our companies should be complicit,” Miller said in a statement.
The Swiss Federal Council, the executive branch, announced Wednesday it had decided to adopt “most of the measures" included in the latest EU sanctions. While Switzerland isn't one of the bloc's 27 member countries, Bern has largely hewed to its sanctions against Russia in a bid to curtail its war machine in Ukraine.
In the statement sent Friday to The Associated Press, Miller said the council's decision “to not fully adopt all components of the 14th package of sanctions ... is disappointing."
Many developed countries have sought to curtail Russia’s access to Western finance, markets and technology, and shunned or limited imports of Russian goods. The measures have had a limited effect on Russia’s economy, not least because many countries — including major developing nations like China, India, Türkiye and Brazil — are still doing a lot of business with Russia.
Meanwhile, some Russian natural gas still flows into the European Union — through Ukraine.
Switzerland said stiffer controls have been enacted in areas such as intellectual property and trade secrets, industrial know-how, messaging services in the financial sector, natural gas and Russian helium exports.
But it stopped short of joining EU restrictions on applications for patents, brands and other intellectual property of companies from Russia, saying “there have been no intellectual property rights violations committed by Russia against Swiss companies.”
The latest EU measures also call on businesses in the bloc to make sure foreign subsidiaries don't undercut the sanctions. The Swiss say their current sanctions law already allows for prosecution of companies that circumvent sanctions through subsidiaries and as a result, the council “decided not to adopt this EU measure in its current form.”
The government said some 2,250 individuals, companies and organizations in Switzerland are currently on the sanctions list in connection with the situation in Ukraine, and “the list is identical to that of the EU.”